Management & Operations

MARTA's hands-free, self-cleaning bathroom is the 'future'

ATLANTA — The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) believes it's found the public restroom of the future: a high-tech, hands-free, self-cleaning, vandal-resistant, loiter-proof bathroom built to address every mass transit agency concern and offer safe and sanitary service to the fare-paying public, CityLab reported. The agency opened the new restroom about a month ago in MARTA's Lindbergh Center Station as part of a pilot program.

"This is the public restroom of the future in our opinion," says Louis Herrera, president of Public Facilities & Services Inc., which designed and is operating the Lindbergh restroom and has served transit systems in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

Bathroom features include a "virtual restroom attendant" that monitors the bathroom via an outside overhead camera; metered-out toilet paper; a sensor-controlled sink that provides soap, water and an air-dry feature; and the walls are lined with a graffiti-resistant coating, according to the CityLab post.

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